


Building a Bond

by dweetwise



Category: Dead by Daylight (Video Game)
Genre: Fluff, Friendship, Gen, One Shot, Platonic Relationships
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-09
Updated: 2020-12-09
Packaged: 2021-03-10 00:21:33
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,020
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27895240
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dweetwise/pseuds/dweetwise
Summary: Quentin's sleep-deprived slip of the tongue earns him an unlikely friendship.
Comments: 11
Kudos: 62





	Building a Bond

**Author's Note:**

> for a fluffy tumblr request of felix being a dad to quentin!

Quentin is floating on the edge of consciousness, finally comfortable for the first time in what feels like years. The aches in his tense body are gone and his racing thoughts having slowed to a pleasant haze in the background. 

There’s a nagging thought in the back of his mind, like he's forgetting something important, but he doesn’t have the energy to remember what, instead allowing himself to fall further into the comforting lull of sleep—

“Quentin,” a warm voice drifts into his thoughts, sounding distant enough for him not to pay it any attention.

But then his body is jostled unpleasantly and he frowns, forcefully ripped away from the soothing embrace of sleep. A crackling sound and smell of smoke infiltrates his half-aware state, reminding him of napping in front of the fireplace in his family home.

“ _Quentin,_ ” the voice sounds more stern now, fitting into the scenario because it reminds him of his…

“Dad,” Quentin mumbles, finally giving up on sleep and blinking awake.

And immediately freezing from mortification as he comes face to face with a person who is _definitely_ not his father.

The realization and memories hit him like a truck. The campfire. The trials. Fre—the killers. The other survivors.

And the polite German architect who always helps him stay awake and who he just called "dad".

Felix slowly retracts his hand from Quentin's shoulder, averting his eyes in favor of clearing his throat.

“You looked like you were falling asleep,” Felix says, looking somewhere to the side and luckily seeming happy to pretend like Quentin's slip-up never happened.

“Yeah,” Quentin says, in turn pretending to stifle a yawn despite being wide awake due to the mortification. “Uh, thanks.”

“Right,” Felix says, thankfully just as uncomfortable as Quentin feels. And then he just stands there and sort of… hovers, making Quentin want to dig a hole and crawl into it because it's so fucking awkward.

At least the camp is mostly empty, the few other survivors seeming to be fast asleep.

“Would you like to help with the project?” Felix finally asks, and Quentin sighs in relief, thrilled to get to do something practical instead of talk.

“Sounds great,” he replies, and even Felix looks relieved, motioning to follow him away from their sleeping companions.

Trailing after Felix into the woods, Quentin can't help but curse his sleep-deprived brain for its stupidity; of course he had to go and make an idiot out of himself in front of the new guy. The others are already giving him shit for how often he helps Felix with his projects as it is, and he sure as hell doesn’t need to add any fuel to the fire. Hopefully nobody was awake to hear it.

They get to one of the shelters they've been building for a few weeks, Felix grabbing a couple of tools and turning around to offer him the choice between a hacksaw and hammer. Feeling like he needs to get some of his frustrations out but not wanting to wake up the others at camp, Quentin grabs the saw and Felix offers an approving nod.

They get to work in silence like so many times before, Felix doing all of the brainwork in measuring and assembling the different timber they've managed to scrounge up while Quentin focuses on the physical labor. When Felix first invited him to join his little building project, it was purely a way to give Quentin something to do to help him stay awake, and he'd spent many nights just salvaging nails from old floorboards or sorting through miscellaneous junk for resources. But eventually Felix had started offering more challenging tasks, and Quentin actually found himself enjoying working with his hands.

He's gotten much better at sawing, that’s for sure. The edges are much more even than when he started, and he feels a little proud when he hands a pile of finished planks to Felix.

“Good work,” Felix commends with a small smile, and Quentin is embarrassed to feel pride blooming in his chest over the praise.

Despite Felix not having been with them for long, Quentin is grateful to have him, always helping him stay awake and happy to teach him all he knows about building. Quentin can admit to himself that he’s come to look up to Felix like some type of mentor.

And that's why he should probably clear the air after the… incident.

“Hey,” Quentin says when Felix goes to put the boards with the others. The man turns to him, tilting his head in a silent gesture to go on. “I'm, uh… I'm sorry about before.”

“Don't worry about it,” Felix says simply, returning to his work and not seeming at all phased by the issue.

“No, I'm serious. That was really weird of me,” Quentin insists, trying to push through the embarrassment so he doesn't ever have to bring this up again.

“So am I," Felix says, now plank-free and turning to give him his full attention. "I did not mind in the slightest—in fact, if you ever were to see me that way, I would only be honored."

Quentin just blinks stupidly, not believing his ears. Felix… _isn’t_ freaked out by Quentin seeing him as— _calling_ him dad?

At his silence, Felix's bravado seems to slip, dropping his gaze to fiddle with some cutting wire in his hands.

“But for now…" Felix starts quietly, before clearing his throat and squaring his shoulders, continuing with more confidence. "I'm happy to teach you everything I know. We make a good team, yes?”

There's that stupid feeling of pride and _acceptance_ again, making Quentin pull down his beanie to hide his reddening ears. He always thought Felix saw him as a liability, needing to practically babysit him both at camp and in trials, but it seems the German has more faith in him than he thought.

“Can you show me how to use those again?” Quentin blurts out, too embarrassed to talk about his feelings, pointing at the tool in Felix's hands instead.

And Felix just smiles knowingly, looking happy at his response.

“Of course.”


End file.
